Irrfan Khan: Parvathy is the hero of my film!

By HT

New Delhi, Nov. 22 -- Women-centric or female-fronted films in Bollywood are winning critical acclaim and commercial success. And if there is one leading male actor in the industry who is all for starring in these films, it is Irrfan.

"I don't mind being ruled by a woman. Why should I? Had my character been any lesser than a male character in the film, I would have still thought about it," says the actor, adding, "You don't see a lot of interesting scripts in female-oriented films. When I was working in Piku (2015), I never thought that Piku was the main character. I loved the world that the filmmaker (Shoojit Sircar) was trying to create. I just wanted to be a part of it," says Irrfan, whose latest feature Qarib Qarib Singlle, is garnering good response from the audience.

The actor points out that even in this film he is not the lead.

"Parvathy is the hero of the film and I am basically playing her heroine. If you ask me what got me hooked to the film, it's the way the film highlights an aspect of a relationship. The treatment of love is different here. The audiences always want to watch cinema that is relatable, they should see their lives or their own aspirations. They want to feel romantic but not through the same kind of stories," adds Irrfan.

Besides Piku and his latest film, Irrfan has also starred in 7 Khoon Maaf (2011) and Jazbaa (2015), both of which were female-fronted. And it's not just in Bollywood. The actor feels that women deserve much more love and recognition in our society.

So what does the phrase 'empowered women' mean to him? "An empowered woman doesn't need to be competing with a man. She is someone who understands her power of giving birth to a new life. To me, it's like magic. She is not in conflict with the other gender and celebrates her womanhood," he explains.